Hi Mark, As you may remember, my son has been at his
dad's for over a week. His Dad has told me that he's doing great, says
he's not doing pot anymore, catching up on internet homework etc. The mom in me
is happy about that however am wondering how this could happen so
quickly. Could dad be falling for a line of crap? I miss him terribly
and am very hurt that all this has happened, I really want my child
back, happy and healthy; in your experience, has the relationship with a
parent and child ever been mended? I'm so afraid I've lost him
forever. I know I have to work on myself and gain respect. This is all SO hard. ~ T.
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Hi T.,
Re: Could dad be falling for a line of crap?
==> Probably.
Re: In your experience, has the relationship with a parent and child ever been mended?
==> I’ve lost track of the number of incidences similar to yours. It usually goes like this:
- 18-year-old has been over-indulged most of his life
- 18-year-old moves out – or is kicked out – after a terrible ugly scene
- 18-year-old goes several months without any contact with parent due to a bad case of resentment flu
- After 3 – 12 months, the now young adult has recovered from his resentment flu and has gained some knowledge of how the “real” world operates (for the first time in his life)
- By virtue of (a) time away from the parent and (b) emotional maturation (i.e., the emergence of personal and behavioral characteristics through growth processes), the young adult returns to the parent-child relationship in the emotional and communicational sense (he sometimes returns physically – living with the parent again – in those cases where he was unable to function independently; a failure to launch)
Things are
never as BAD as they seem, so don’t adopt the mistaken belief that you
will never have a relationship with your son again.
Also,
things are never as GOOD as they seem, so don’t be surprised if you get
a call from your son’s dad regarding problems with your son (although,
it’s very possible that your son’s dad will cover-up any difficulties in
order to (a) “save face” and (b) “give the impression” that he can do a
better job parenting).
==> My Out-of-Control Teen: Help for Parents
